Hej hej!
Our day started our bright and early! In the summer the sun almost never sets on Sweden so Nick and Matt both mistakenly woke up at about 4:30am and after realizing their mistake quickly returned to bed. At approximately 6:30am they woke up again and decided to get showered and head down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. They enjoyed a few cups of freshly ground coffee, some fruit, eggs, and Matt couldn’t get enough of the pickled herring! Our group all convened in the lobby at around 8:35am and we were off to the Swedish Board of Agriculture. While at the Board of Agriculture we were told about some of the Human Resource practices “in the house” as well as learned about the pilot program for an activity based work center, similar to google HQ, in the house. The group then headed over to the University of Jönköping were we talked to Jenny the Director of Human Resources about the university policies on hiring, employment reviews, and salary reviews. We wrapped up our day by taking a hike throughout the city and getting to see some irreducible views of lake Vättern, the largest lake in Sweden. We ended our hike with a traditional Swedish picnic in the park that consisted of hotdogs, potato chips, and sparkling water.
Hej doe and cya tomorrow from Nick & Matt!
No they definitely don’t have to have meetings about their health insurance. Some clear differences we noticed were the sizes of the HR teams. Where in the USA there would be a compensation team and a benefits team consisting of several people each in Sweden it’s typical to have only one person doing compensation and benefits. This could potentially be a result from having a positive relationship with the unions and the good faith of the Swedish people.
Matt, which dining hall should I send a note to, so they will have plenty of pickled herring for you in the fall?
I wonder whether there was anything different in the HR policies and practices compared to what you’ve learned about in the U.S. I’m going to guess that they don’t have to spend hours talking about how to choose your health insurance plan?